Faouzi Benzarti is set for a second spell as coach of Club Africain Tunisian side Club Africain's newly-appointed coach Faouzi Benzarti has told reporters that he intends to guide the club to the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle title this season. Benzarti signed a 4-year contract at the Stade Olympique d'El Menzah on Tuesday evening, to replace the outgoing Nabil Kouki.
The Tunis-based club's owner, Slim Riahi, confirmed Benzarti's selection after interviewing several key candidates over the past few weeks.
In a statement, Riahi said: "Faouzi Benzarti has been appointed as the coach of Club African. During the interview process, he was the only candidate who showed us the confidence and enthusiasm as to how he would tackle this challenge, and demonstrated a strong desire to win.
"We have made the decision and now require everyone to push forward with the club in the last stage of the season," he added.
Kouki was fired after the team's 3-1 defeat away to league leaders Espérance Sportive de Tunis on March 31.
Sixty-three year old Benzarti has coached Espérance, Étoile du Sahel and CS Sfaxien in Tunisia, along with the Tunisian and Libyan national teams.
The veteran coach said: "My goal is to win the league this year, failure to achieve this goal would be a failure for me."
Benzarti is well known in the Tunisian footballing circles, having previously won the African Champions League twice, first with the Club Africain in 1990 and the then with Espérance in 1994.
He also guided the Tunisian trio of Club Africain, Espérance and Etoile to numerous league titles.
Club African have failed to win the Tunisian league since 2008, and are currently two-points behind Tunis-based rivals Espérance, after 13 matches.